Third death in 17 days in Asturian mountain: Man from Madrid who fell while trying to save his friend

Tragedy was set this Tuesday at Picos de Europa for the third time in just 17 days. FJB, a 40-year-old Madrid resident, died in the early afternoon after falling 80 meters from the Texu canal into the bed of the river of the same name. He slipped while trying to help his friend., a Canarian woman who had stumbled and slipped down the valley before but managed to grab onto a tree. The woman is admitted to Arriondas Hospital with a strong anxiety attack and, in principle, without significant injuries.

Three deaths in Picos in recent days, very touristy areas, within a radius of a few kilometers, and in areas with little theoretical risk (the dangers that mountain landscapes always hide). The Texu route is 3.2 kilometers long and connects Poncebos to Bulnes at Cabrales council. On Sunday, July 24, Javier Amigo of Gijón died en route from Poncebos to Bulnes, and instead of using the Texu canal, he accidentally ran a steeper alternative route to the banks of the Cares River.

There were no casualties this Tuesday; only death. The accident occurred halfway through the Texu canal. According to a spokesperson for the Gijón Civil Guard Command, whose Special Mountain Response Rescue Group (GREIM) is undertaking the investigation. At around four o’clock in the afternoon, the woman – for reasons as yet undisclosed – stumbled and fell down a “very leafy and extremely vertical” slope, according to the Principality Emergency Service (SEPA) officers. Fortunately, she managed to hold onto a tree. Immediately his friend tried to help him. Not only did she fail, she fell off the cliff herself. The injuries were fatal. His body was transferred to the Asturias Forensic Institute.

The 112 Asturias Emergency Coordination Center received the notification at 16:14. Mentioned in searches A man fell into the river and a woman clung to a tree to avoid falling off the cliff. SEPA 112 room mobilized the medicalized helicopter rescue group and sent the notification to the 112 services of Cantabria and Castilla y León. At 17:20, they reported that they rescued the woman and carried her to a safe area. At 18:12, they confirmed that they had taken the man’s lifeless body.

SEPA stated that the recovery process was “very complex”. Several loops had to be made at maximum capacity with the helicopter winch. A firefighter-rescuer and a doctor-rescuer who later confirmed his death entered the place.

third death

This is the third death recorded in the past 17 days in this area of ​​Picos de Europa, after the first death occurred with a Portuguese tourist falling into the river at Poncebos at the beginning of the Cares route. On July 16, and just a week later, he was found dead, along with Javier Amigo from Gijón, last Friday after a painful five-day search near the Estorez canal.

According to some assumptions, the woman fell from twenty meters due to the condition of a fence that led to it when she leaned on it. The climber from Gijón has kept the emergency services on alert for the past week. The 24 left Poncebos alone on Sunday. He had to climb the Texu canal, where yesterday’s tragic accident occurred, but a fatal misdirection put him on the wrong track. This road instead took the old road of the Cares road and ended on a steep incline, where it fell a hundred meters. According to all findings, he died at the scene, the same day his trace disappeared.